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| Sergei Sapego celebrates his first goal Saturday with Dante Hannoun (#17). |
On Saturday before a standing room crowd of 3,152 spectators
at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, winger Aliaksei Protas and defenceman
Sergei Sapego, who are both from Belarus, each had two goals and an assist to
lift the host Raiders past the Red Deer Rebels 6-4 in Game 2 of their first round
WHL playoff series.
With the win, the Raiders lead the best-of-seven set 2-0. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at the Enmax Centrium
in Red Deer with a 7 p.m. local time start.
Protas, who is a
rookie who turned 18-years-old in early January, was pumped to experience two
wins in his first two post-season games in the WHL.
 |
| Aliaksei Protas scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday. |
“We just win for
fans and for us.”
The Raiders looked
dominant in the first period jumping out to a 3-1 lead. Sapego, who is
in his second WHL campaign, netted both of his goals in the opening frame,
while Protas had his first tally.
Chris Douglas had the lone
reply for the Rebels.
“We play very well,”
said Sapego, who was a plus-four on Saturday. “We just make sure just minimum penalties
and just keep working.
“We just try and
play hard shift by shift.”
Overage centre Dante
Hannoun picked up assists on all three Raiders goals in the first period
finishing the contest with the three helpers and a plus-three rating.
 |
| Sergei Sapego drives home his first of two goals on Saturday. |
“It is a new day and
a new game. We came in and prepared ourselves the right way.”
The game’s momentum
changed at the 3:50 mark of the second, when Raiders star right-winger Brett
Leason received a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct
for a hit on Rebels winger Cameron Hausinger. Leason’s hit will
automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
Rebels overage winger Brandon Hagel scored near the end of
the five-minute power play to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2. Hagel evened things
up at 3-3 at the nine-minute mark of the second shortly after Leason’s
infraction expired.
 |
| Brandon Hagel had a hat trick for the Rebels on Saturday. |
Before the second period ended, the Raiders could have
increased the lead, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella was hauled down on
a breakaway by Rebels centre Josh Tarzwell. Masella wasn’t able to score on his
penalty shot.
At the 2:08 mark of the third, Protas tapped home a loose
puck in the crease of the Rebels goal
to put the Raiders up 5-3 and give the host side a push to close out the game.
Protas said his
third period goal was important, because it helped counter the momentum the Rebels
gained from scoring on the power-play. Red Deer went 3-for-5 with the man
advantage in the contest.
“It was big a goal,”
said Protas of his second tally of the night. “We just tried to bring it back
and just score and just keep playing our way.”
 |
| Dante Hannoun (#17) had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday. |
Raiders head coach Marc
Habscheid was pleased with how his side dealt with the changes in momentum on
Saturday.
“A win is a win,”
said Habscheid. “We faced some adversity.
“We got up early,
which was good. They got that power play to make it 2-1. I thought a key point
again was Sapego’s goal, that bank shot in the first to make it 3-1.
“We got into a
little penalty trouble in the second. We had to overplay some guys. I thought
in the third they dug in and obviously did real well in the third.”
 |
| Raiders D Jeremy Masella (#3) jets off on a second period breakaway. |
Habscheid liked the
effort his squad received from Sapego at both ends of the ice.
“He is a
multidimensional player,” said Habscheid. “He plays good offence, but he is
gritty.
“He is tough to play
against. He has been important for us.”
Habscheid thought
Protas’s level of play has risen in the post-season.
 |
| The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheers one of the Raiders goals. |
“He has done real
well. In the playoffs, it is a whole different game, and he has really embraced
the playoffs.”
Habscheid said he
didn’t think the second period infraction to Leason should have been called a
major penalty noting Hausinger was out for the ensuing power play. The bench boss
thought Hausinger embellished the hit he received.
Habscheid added that
Hagel came by and taunted the Raiders bench after one of his goals, which
helped get the host side fired up along with the team’s fans.
Hausinger was
booed almost every time he touched the puck after Leason was kicked out of the
contest, while Hagel received heckles as well.
 |
| The Raiders and Rebels scrum it up in the third period. |
The veteran coach
said the response from the crowd gave his side some extra jump.
“They are smart
hockey fans,” said Habscheid. “They are hardcore fans.
“They know the game.
They saw Hausinger came right out and then they saw that Hagel was taunting our
bench. They (the fans) pick up on those things, and it makes a difference for
us.”
 |
| The Raiders celebrate their Game 2 win on Saturday night. |
“We’re just focused
one game at a time,” said Hannoun. “Every game in front of us, we just have to
focus on what we need to do, and we have to bring our A-game.”
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